It would be an understatement to say that I really like this game. For some reason, up until now, I've struggled to get into 2D fighters, despite having a great time with 3D ones like Tekken and Soul Calibur. I saw more artifice than fun in games like Street Fighter which seemed to require mathematical precision and extensive strategizing. I didn't see an entry point into these more hardcore fighting games.

Killer Instinct, however, has changed all of that. This is easily my new favorite fighter. The basic unit of fighting--combos--is easy to master, even for newcomers. The more tricky technique--indeed, what separates the "good" from the "great"--is combo breaking. Basically, to be good at it, you need familiarity with the moveset of all the fighters, and be able to draw on that knowledge at the drop of a hat.

This is legitimately the first 2D fighter I've played that I can describe as "easy to learn, tough to master." If fighting games are perplexing to you, I highly recommend giving this one a spin. The base game with one fighter (essentially a demo mode) is free to download, so there's nothing to lose in trying it out.

I'm so glad you can get into it. I get creamed by the computer on the super easy mode. I can't even tell if the "Kyle" mode is the easiest or the hardest. Regardless, it looks beautiful.

Because I suck so much at it I no longer let the CPU wallop me to no end. What's funny is, I'm good at Soul Caliber, I mean good. And the same with Street Fighter. But this new KI kicks my butt. Oh, well, there are tons of other games to enjoy.

[QUOTE=ActRaiser]I'm so glad you can get into it. I get creamed by the computer on the super easy mode. I can't even tell if the "Kyle" mode is the easiest or the hardest. Regardless, it looks beautiful.

Because I suck so much at it I no longer let the CPU wallop me to no end. What's funny is, I'm good at Soul Caliber, I mean good. And the same with Street Fighter. But this new KI kicks my butt. Oh, well, there are tons of other games to enjoy.[/QUOTE]

Hey ActRaiser!

Have you tried the tutorial? I usually ignore them but in this case, I have to say that KI's tutorial is extremely helpful (and very concise). From what I understand, the combo system in KI is unlike any other fighting game, which might be the source of your frustration if you're very accustomed to the way SF works. I say it's easy to get into because there's a core set of structures that applies to every character, making it very easy to jump from one to the other.

On the subject of Soul Calibur and Street fighter--who do you main in those games? I bet I could make a recommendation of a character to use in KI based on that.

Yeah, I tried the tutorials. I only made it about half-way before hitting a wall. I'm just going to go with the idea that I stink and I'm happy with that. In Street Fighter and Soul Caliber I normally pick the well rounded guy such as Ken/Ryu and Mitsurgui (sp?).

Thankfully, there are plenty of other great games to keep me going. Speaking of which I just played through COD: Advance Warfare on the PS4. That's a freaking awesome game. It felt like a tight, well made Halo game.

LoganRuckman wrote:Have you never played Super Smash Bros.? Doesn't that series epitomize the "easy to learn, hard to master" fun that everyone from casual to hardcore fans can get into?

Anyways, I'm glad to see that Microsoft is making quite the turnaround and fixing a lot of mistakes they made in the beginning to turn this into a good system with good exclusives.

I enjoy playing Smash with friends and at parties, but there's no middle ground in the competitive scene. That's because until very recently, Smash hasn't had a strong online community due to Nintendo's lack of network infrastructure. That meant that if you were going to play competitively, you would need to go to tournaments. It kept the competitive community relatively insular. The higher-level tactics and techniques of the game were the reserve of a select few. They're not always intentionally built into the engine, but often rely on tricks and bugs that require expert skill and timing to execute.

Being "kinda good," in a competitive sense, is extremely hard in Smash, as it is in Street Fighter--although these two are different in important ways. Smash is the hardest fighter to learn that I've ever played because its techniques can't be learned through a tutorial, and it's unlikely that you'll ever figure them out on your own. You have to go and learn from the experts. Street Fighter is difficult to get into because of how much history it has and how devoted and well-honed its best fighters are.

I like Killer Instinct better because it has a very even learning curve. I've been playing for about six months and I'm nearing the high end of the middle tier online. If I'd been playing Street Fighter this whole time, I would have just broken through that point where I can say "I get it now," and I'd be a much better fighting gamer for it. If I'd been playing Smash all this time, I'd still be a beginner.